Virginia Cavaliers land highly regarded football recruit

When the clock struck 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Mike London nervously glanced over at his son, Korben.

Korben had Dad’s phone. Was it ringing yet?

Virginia entered the day with nine commitments for its 2014 recruiting class. London hoped to get to 10 before practice No. 3 of the 2013 season was over.

California three-star athlete Jeffery Farrar was scheduled to make his decision on ESPN.com before 5 p.m.

For dramatic purposes, the announcement came around 5:15. London, on the McCue Center practice field, was handed his cell just before Farrar told the nation.

The fourth-year head coach had a response that summed it all up.

“YEAHHHHH, ” he screamed , rais ing a hand to the sky.

It was obvious — Farrar chose UVa.

The 6-foot, 194-pounder picked the Cavaliers over Arizona State and Cal.

“Because it was different,” Farrar told ESPN.com of the reason behind his Wahoo selection. “I felt like it was real family oriented out there. I love Coach London. He’s a great guy, and I will love playing football for him at the next level.”

Farrar said Virginia likes him as a receiver and as a cornerback, but he’s expected to land on the defensive side of the ball in Charlottesville. At DB in 2012, he made 50 tackles and had six interceptions for Upland High School.

247Sports ranks Farrar as the No. 36 athlete in the nation and the No. 38 prospect in the state of California, regardless of position.

He could fill a potential void at DB, created Saturday by Greg Stroman’s surprise choice of Virginia Tech. Stroman is a three-star prospect from Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas.

UVa now has four ESPN Top 300 recruits (Farrar, Quin Blanding, Andrew Brown, Will Richardson) in its 2014 class.

“I think it’s because he’s an honest guy,” Farrar said when asked how London attracts top talent .

“He’s a real honest guy when he talks to you and I feel like that’s a great [characteristic] players look for in coaches.

“With that and him being honest, I feel like that’s how he’s able to get a lot of big-time recruits.”

Popping pads

For the first time in August, the Cavaliers practiced in shells on Wednesday.

A brief rundown of the highlights:

n Linebacker Henry Coley got the first good pop of camp when he emerged through a hole and walloped a hard-charging Kevin Parks in an 11-on-11 situation.

n For a second straight afternoon, Greyson Lambert was the victim of a pick-six. This time it was defensive end Trent Corney doing the honors. The sophomore reached back to snag an errant Lambert toss through the middle, dashed across the field and then turned down the sideline where no one caught him.

Tuesday, linebacker Mark Hall picked off Lambert twice, taking each back for a touchdown .

Wednesday, Lambert had two INTs to his name, one coming from safety Mason Thomas.

n Taquan “Smoke” Mizzell continues to show good burst, taking a carry, making a quick cut at the line of scrimmage and going the distance in a scrimmage scenario. The ballyhooed freshman was running with the second-team offense.

n David Watford made moves toward be ing named the No. 1 QB. His running skills are notice able in new coordinator Steve Fairchild’s system. His Wednesday passing led to one interception, a Maurice Canady snag when the football tipped off Dominique Terrell’s hands.

n Other freshmen to see time on the second team included defensive tackles Donte Wilkins and Tyrell Chavis as well as corners Tim Harris and Kirk Garner.

@NourishTheBeard

Morgan Moses’ facial hair has reached celebrity status.

Moses, a senior offensive tackle, said he’s been growing his beard since the middle of his freshman year.

Now, the world is free to share in his hairy experience.

The Twitter handle @NourishTheBeard has been created to represent the 6-6, 335-pounder’s most noticeable feature.

“My beard came to me one night,” Moses said, “and was like, ‘Look Morgan, I’ve been your best friend since you’ve been in college.’ And all this other stuff. I was like, ‘Yeah, sounds good, man.’ He was like, ‘You should make a Twitter.’

“So we came up with this idea of making a Twitter. Right now, everybody loves it.”

@NourishTheBeard was created Tuesday evening. Twenty-four hours later, it had 225 followers.

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